SLTs appear to play an important role in the development of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC)-associated hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). SLT-II toxin is comprised of subunits A and B, both of which are encoded by a 1.66 kb plasmid gene. Nucleic acid amplification is a powerful technology, which allows rapid detection of specific target sequences. It is therefore a promising technology for the rapid detection and identification of SLT-producing organisms. The oligonucleotide primers of the present invention are applicable to nucleic acid amplification and detection of SLT-II-producing organisms, such as EHEC.
The following terms are defined herein as follows:
An amplification primer is a primer for amplification of a target sequence by extension of the primer after hybridization to the target sequence. Amplification primers are typically about 10-75 nucleotides in length, preferably about 15-50 nucleotides in length. The total length of an amplification primer for SDA is typically about 25-50 nucleotides. The 3' end of an SDA amplification primer (the target binding sequence) hybridizes at the 3' end of the target sequence. The target binding sequence is about 10-25 nucleotides in length and confers hybridization specificity on the amplification primer. The SDA amplification primer further comprises a recognition site for a restriction endonuclease 5' to the target binding sequence. The recognition site is for a restriction endonuclease which will nick one strand of a DNA duplex when the recognition site is hemimodified, as described by G. Walker, et al. (1992. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89:392-396 and 1992 Nucl. Acids Res. 20:1691-1696). The nucleotides 5' to the restriction endonuclease recognition site (the "tail") function as a polymerase repriming site when the remainder of the amplification primer is nicked and displaced during SDA. The repriming function of the tail nucleotides sustains the SDA reaction and allows synthesis of multiple amplicons from a single target molecule. The tail is typically about 10-25 nucleotides in length. Its length and sequence are generally not critical and can be routinely selected and modified. As the target binding sequence is the portion of a primer which determines its target-specificity, for amplification methods which do not require specialized sequences at the ends of the target the amplification primer generally consists essentially of only the target binding sequence. For example, amplification of a target sequence according to the invention using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) will employ amplification primers consisting of the target binding sequences of the amplification primers described herein. For amplification methods that require specialized sequences appended to the target other than the nickable restriction endonuclease recognition site and the tail of SDA (e.g., an RNA polymerase promoter for Self-Sustained Sequence Replication (3SR), Nucleic Acid Sequence-Based Amplification (NASBA) or the Transcription-Based Amplification System (TAS)), the required specialized sequence may be linked to the target binding sequence using routine methods for preparation of oligonucleotides without altering the hybridization specificity of the primer.
A bumper primer or external primer is a primer used to displace primer extension products in isothermal amplification reactions. The bumper primer anneals to a target sequence upstream of the amplification primer such that extension of the bumper primer displaces the downstream amplification primer and its extension product.
The terms target or target sequence refer to nucleic acid sequences to be amplified. These include the original nucleic acid sequence to be amplified, the complementary second strand of the original nucleic acid sequence to be amplified and either strand of a copy of the original sequence which is produced by the amplification reaction. These copies serve as amplifiable targets by virtue of the fact that they contain copies of the sequence to which the amplification primers hybridize.
Copies of the target sequence which are generated during the amplification reaction are referred to as amplification products, amplimers or amplicons.
The term extension product refers to the copy of a target sequence produced by hybridization of a primer and extension of the primer by polymerase using the target sequence as a template.
The term species-specific refers to detection, amplification or oligonucleotide hybridization to a species of organism or a group of related species without substantial detection, amplification or oligonucleotide hybridization to other species of the same genus or species of a different genus.
The term assay probe refers to any oligonucleotide used to facilitate detection or identification of a nucleic acid. Detector probes, detector primers, capture probes, signal primers and reporter probes as described below are examples of assay probes.
The term amplicon refers to the product of the amplification reaction generated through the extension of either or both of a pair of amplification primers. An amplicon may contain exponentially amplified nucleic acids if both primers utilized hybridize to a target sequence. Alternatively, amplicons may be generated by linear amplification if one of the primers utilized does not hybridize to the target sequence. Thus, this term is used generically herein and does not imply the presence of exponentially amplified nucleic acids.
A microelectronic array (or electronic microarray) is a device with an array of electronically self-addressable microscopic locations. Each microscopic location contains an underlying working direct current (DC) micro-electrode supported by a substrate. The surface of each micro location has a permeation layer for the free transport of small counter-ions, and an attachment layer for the covalent coupling of specific binding entities.
An array or matrix is an arrangement of locations on the device. The locations can be arranged in two dimensional arrays, three dimensional arrays, or other matrix formats. The number of locations can range from several to at least hundreds of thousands.
Electronic addressing (or targeting) is the placement of charged molecules at specific test sites. Since DNA has a strong negative charge, it can be electronically moved to an area of positive charge. A test site or a row of test sites on the microchip is electronically activated with a positive charge. A solution of DNA probes is introduced onto the microchip. The negatively charged probes rapidly move to the positively charged sites, where they concentrate and are chemically bound to that site. The microchip is then washed and another solution of distinct DNA probes can be added. Site by site, row by row, an array of specifically bound DNA probes can be assembled or addressed on the microchip. With the ability to electronically address capture probes to specific sites, the system allows the production of custom arrays through the placement of specific capture probes on a microchip. In this connection, the term "electronically addressable" refers to a capacity of a microchip to direct materials such as nucleic acids and enzymes and other amplification components from one position to another on the microchip by electronic biasing of the capture sites of the chip. "Electronic biasing" is intended to mean that the electronic charge at a capture site or another position on the microchip may be manipulated between a net positive and a net negative charge so that molecules in solution and in contact with the microchip may be directed toward or away from one position on the microchip or form one position to another.
Electronic concentration and hybridization uses electronics to move and concentrate target molecules to one or more test sites (or capture sites) on the microchip. The electronic concentration of sample DNA at each test site promotes rapid hybridization of sample DNA with complementary capture probes. In contrast to the passive hybridization process, the electronic concentration process has the distinct advantage of significantly accelerating the rate of hybridization. To remove any unbound or nonspecifically bound DNA from each site, the polarity or charge of the site is reversed to negative, thereby forcing any unbound or nonspecifically bound DNA back into solution away from the capture probes. In addition, since the test molecules are electronically concentrated over the test site, a lower concentration of target DNA molecules is required, thus reducing the time and labor otherwise required for pre-test sample preparation. The term "capture site" refers to a specific position on an electronically addressable microchip wherein electronic biasing is initiated and where molecules such as nucleic acid probes and target molecules are attracted or addressed by such biasing.
Electronic stringency control is the reversal of electrical potential to remove unbound and nonspecifically bound DNA quickly and easily as part of the hybridization process. Electronic stringency provides quality control for the hybridization process and ensures that any bound pairs of DNA are truly complementary. The precision, control, and accuracy of platform technology, through the use of the controlled delivery of current in the electronic stringency process, permits the detection of single point mutations, single base pair mismatches, or other genetic mutations, which may have significant implications in a number of diagnostic and research applications. Electronic stringency is achieved without the cumbersome processing and handling otherwise required to achieve the same results through conventional methods. In contrast to passive arrays, this technology can accommodate both short and long single-stranded fragments of DNA. The use of longer probes increases the certainty that the DNA which hybridizes with the capture probe is the correct target. Electronic stringency control reduces the required number of probes and therefore test sites on the microchip, relative to conventional DNA arrays. In contrast, traditional passive hybridization processes are difficult to control and require more replicants of every possible base pair match so that correct matches can be positively identified.
Electronic multiplexing allows the simultaneous analysis of multiple tests from a single sample. Electronic multiplexing is facilitated by the ability to control individual test sites independently (for addressing of capture probes or capture molecules and concentration of test sample molecules) which allows for the simultaneous use of biochemically unrelated molecules on the same microchip. Sites on a conventional DNA array cannot be individually controlled, and therefore the same process steps must be performed on the entire array. The use of electronics in this technology provides increased versatility and flexibility over such conventional methods.